Secondary English NCEA – Level 1



Secondary English NCEA – Level 3

|Title: |The Crucible |

| |Students study the socio-historical contexts in which this play was written, set and is read today. They |

| |then actively engage with the language, themes and characters prior to presenting their interpretation of a |

| |scene from the play and developing essays. |

|Writer: |Phil Coogan |

|Year level |13 |

|Who are my learners and what do they | See Using Inquiry to Plan Secondary English Programmes |

|already know? | |

|School curriculum outcomes |How your school’s principles, values, or priorities will be developed through this |

| |unit |

|Learning Outcomes |

|(What do my students need to learn) |

|Curriculum achievement objectives (AOs) | |

|for: | |

|English |Processes and strategies |

| |Integrate sources of information, processes, and strategies purposefully, confidently,|

| |and precisely to identify, form, and express increasingly sophisticated ideas.
 |

| |thinks critically about texts with understanding and confidence |

| |creates a range of increasingly coherent, varied, and complex texts by integrating |

| |sources of information and processing strategies |

| | |

| |Ideas |

| |Select, develop, and communicate sustained and insightful ideas on a range of topics.
|

| |develops, communicates, and sustains sophisticated ideas, information, and |

| |understandings |

| | |

| |Language features |

| |Select, integrate and sustain a range of language features appropriately for a variety|

| |of effects.
 |

| |uses a wide range of text conventions, including grammatical and spelling conventions,|

| |appropriately, effectively, and with accuracy. |

| | |

| |Structure |

| |Organise texts, using a range of appropriate, coherent, and effective structures. |

| |organises and develops ideas and information for a particular purpose or effect, using|

| |the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms with control. |

|Achievement Standard(s) aligned to AO(s) | |

| |AS 90725 Construct and deliver an oral presentation |

| |AS 90723 Respond critically to oral or visual text studied, |

|Teaching and Learning |

|(What do I need to know and do?) |

|1-2 related professional readings or links to |Using inquiry to plan secondary English programmes |

|relevant research | |

| |English Teaching and Learning Guide [available from February 2011] |

| | |

| |Conditions of Assessment Guidelines |

|Learning task 1 |Learning task 1 |

|Learning intention(s) |Engaging with the issues |

|Establishing prior learning and linking it to |Examine the consequences of personal conscience in conflict with rigid societal |

|the text |perceptions of what is "right" in human behaviour. |

| |Make a 3 column grid on the board (with the columns headed: (1) Group (2) Reasons|

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |(3) Result) which students copy. Individually, get them to list under "Group" |

|KCs: Thinking |those sections of society (in NZ or elsewhere) who are the subject of prejudice |

|– explore texts |or who tend to be blamed for social, economic and moral ills. Teachers may also |

|Relate to others – peer discussion |wish to draw attention to current events which echo the Salem Witch Trials. |

| |List the groups nominated on the board under "Group". |

| |Now in small groups, select from the class list, one of the nominated groups |

| |(which preferably appears more than once). Complete the grid for that group: ie. |

| |under "Reasons", list understandings of the reasons why that group is subject to |

| |blame or prejudice and then the under "Results", list some of the ways that the |

| |prejudice/blame is expressed socially. |

| |Share findings across the class, completing the grid on the board and recording |

| |a copy to return to later when looking at themes in learning task 6. |

|Learning task 2 |Learning task 2 |

| |Background; About the Author |

|Learning intention(s) |Prior to engaging with the play, use the research topics resource to explore the |

|Examining text background |background of the play and its author, specifically: |

| |Arthur Miller and why he wrote the play |

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |Witchcraft |

|KCs: Thinking |The Salem Witchhunts of the 1690s |

|– explore texts |McCarthyism and the crack-down on communists in the 1950s |

|Relate to others – peer discussion |Allocate each topic to different groups. Report back findings in two minute mini |

| |seminars. |

| |Teachers and students will also find useful the notes on the literary background |

| |to the play, which includes sections on Social Drama and Tragedy. |

| |Also: refer to this list of related quotations which have a philosophical link to|

| |Miller's themes: |

| |Socrates (before his execution)
'Acquit me or not, but whatever you do, know that|

| |I shall never alter my ways even though I have to die many times'. |

| |Voltaire
'Liberty of thought is the life of the soul'. |

| |Max Beerbohm (Essayist)
'The nonconformist conscience makes cowards of us all'. |

| |Shakespeare (Hamlet)
'This above all: to thine own self be true and it must |

| |follow as the night the day thou can'st not then be false to any man'. |

| |Martin Luther 'It is neither safe nor prudent to do aught-against'. |

| |Shakespeare (Hamlet)
'Whither 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and |

| |arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by |

| |opposing end them?....' |

| |John Stuart Mill (Philosopher).
'If all mankind minus one were of one mind and |

| |only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified |

| |in silencing the one person than he if he had the power would be justified in |

| |silencing mankind. We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to |

| |stifle in false opinion; and if we were sure stifling it would still be evil. |

| |John Milton (Poet) 'Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely |

| |according to conscience above all liberties'. |

|Learning task 3 |Learning task 3 |

| |Bringing the text to life |

|Learning intention(s) |Reading through the play can be most rewarding and useful when a variety of |

|Exploring the text through performance |approaches are used. Hence the class could be engaged in: |

| |Prepared readings - all class members are allocated a part to read in class. This|

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |will mean 2-3 class members are allocated to each significant part. The students |

|KCs: Use language, symbols and texts – |becomes the 'experts' about this character. Not only do they share the reading |

|structure and express understandings about |but they are charged with becoming familiar with the stage directions which |

|texts |pertain to that character's speeches so that they are able to explain their |

|Participating and Contributing – contribute to |speeches, to the whole class. Students need to read ahead each night so that they|

|a group performance |are comfortable and confident when they come to read in class. |

| |Walk throughs - some critical scenes are selected for more physical acting out. |

| |Character 'experts' (see above) form groups and rehearse selected scenes (or more|

| |probably parts thereof) prior to presenting them to the rest of the class. The |

| |following variation is more appropriate: groups are asked to dispense with the |

| |text after they have gleaned the key elements of the scene. They then present the|

| |scene using modern language. A further variation involves changing the setting |

| |and issues so that these too are made contemporary. |

| |The above can be interspersed with excerpts from the film versions or sound clips|

| |from the play. |

|Learning task 4 |Learning task 4 |

| |Understanding characters and their conflicts |

|Learning intention(s) |There are a variety of approaches to help understand characters and their |

|Examining key text aspects |conflicts. |

| |View these stills from the film version. How well the casting for the movie |

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |matched their pre-conception of the characters? In what ways were their |

|KCs: Use language, symbols and texts – |preconceptions confirmed or challenged. Write answers to the characters resource.|

|structure and express understandings about |Group with other class members who became character experts (see learning task 3)|

|texts |. The group takes responsibility for their character and presents that character |

|Relate to others – peer discussion |to the class using the character questions as a guide and illustrating all points|

| |with brief dramatisations from the play. Or, again using the character questions |

| |as a guide, prepare to hotseat. |

|Learning task 5 |Learning task 5 |

| |Exploring the language of The Crucible |

|Learning intention(s) |The dialogue has a quality that could not easily be achieved in a naturalistic |

|Examining key text aspects |play of the present time. The characters are given a certain dignity and distance|

| |by quaint turns of phrase and peculiarities of grammar (mainly survivals in |

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |America of early usages in English). The use of ‘Mister’ as a form of address and|

|KCs: Use language, symbols and texts – |'Goody' as a title suggests a relationship strangely remote; and such verb-forms |

|structure and express understandings about |as seen in 'Cain were an upright man', 'there be no road between', 'I am |

|texts |thirty-three time in court in my life', a dialect used by judge as well as |

|Relate to others – peer discussion |peasant, draw attention to another age and environment than ours.
It is perhaps |

| |natural that people whose daily reading was confined to the Bible should use |

| |language with a fine sense of metaphor. it does not sound inappropriate when Hale|

| |says, 'If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing's left to stop the whole green |

| |world from burning', or Proctor, 'I have made a bell of my honour, I have rung |

| |the doom of my good name'. This heightened language is in tune with the symbolic |

| |nature of the characters, the deep emotions they seek to express and the |

| |importance of the themes of the play. |

| |Form groups with each being allocated one of the following aspects of the |

| |language of the play. Find examples of your allocated language feature and report|

| |back to the class. In your report you should provide the context for your example|

| |and, briefly comment on: |

| |What function each serves in terms of characterisation,and/or establishing the |

| |setting and/or conveying a theme? |

| |What effect they might have on a modern audience? |

| |Translate" your example into contemporary English. |

| |Language Features: |

| |Archaic sentence construction and sentence inversion. |

| |Metaphorical language. |

| |Archaic vocabulary usage. |

| |'Earthy' language. |

| |Biblical allusion. |

| |Close reading |

| |Use a text extract from the final lines of Act 3 for close reading. |

|Learning task 6 |Learning task 6 |

| |Themes |

|Learning intention(s) |Use the questions about themes to select from one of these approaches. Write |

|Examining key text aspects |answers to the questions about themes individually. |

| |Groups could be allocated one of the questions about themes each to report back |

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |to the class (and, for examination purposes, provide a one page summary of their |

|KCs: Thinking |responses for each class member) |

|– close reading |Alternatively group members, using the thematic questions, could take on the role|

|Relate to others – peer discussion |of expert to share their findings with other class members. In discussing the |

| |following ideas which run through this play, keep in mind that it is important |

| |for you to be able to say clearly how Miller develops his ideas - through |

| |characterisation? plot structure? language? setting (esp. historical)? conflicts |

| |between and within characters? You need to provide examples of these things to |

| |illustrate the general points you make about theme. |

| |Questions about themes |

| |The Need For Social Responsibility, A 'Human Bond', Integrity.
 |

| |We all have an obligation to combat perceived evil in society yet characters like|

| |Parris, the Putnams, the judges and Abigail shirk this responsibility in favour |

| |of promoting personal ends. Show how they do this and contrast their behaviour |

| |with that of John Proctor who, in placing the well-being of his fellows above his|

| |own interests show Miller's belief in a need for personal integrity.
Refer back |

| |to the grid you completed at the beginning of this unit in which you listed |

| |contemporary examples of the issues raised in The Crucible. Are you able to make |

| |a link between any of these issues and the need for social responsibility as |

| |expressed by Miller. |

| |Societal Problems Can Often Be Traced To Individual Human Failings.
 |

| |Though the trial has religious and super-natural implications Miller tends to |

| |show the troubles as stemming from recognisable human failings. Discuss how the |

| |following failings are manifested in the play - greed, vengeance, jealousy, |

| |ambition, fear, hysteria.
 Refer back to the grid you completed at the beginning |

| |of this unit in which you listed contemporary examples of the issues raised in |

| |The Crucible. Are you able to make a link between any of these issues and |

| |Miller's contention that social problems can often be traced back to individual |

| |failings? |

| |Societies Often Try To Suppress Individual Freedom, In Order To Maintain Social |

| |Order.
 |

| |Discuss how this idea is brought out in the play especially through Proctor's |

| |struggle in the final act - the judges' insistence on pinning his written |

| |confession on the church door and his resistance to this. Also through Giles |

| |Corey who tries to maintain his individual rights (but note the contrast with |

| |Proctor's motives). 
Refer back to the grid you completed at the beginning of |

| |this unit in which you listed contemporary examples of the issues raised in The |

| |Crucible. Are you able to make a link between any of these issues and the ideas |

| |about individual freedom contained in The Crucible? |

| |Often People Tend to Think in 'Black and White'.
 |

| |(eg. good or evil, god-like or devilish, capitalist or communist). The upholders |

| |of the social order like Danforth are forced into this sort of thinking. How? |

| |Even Elizabeth Proctor associates John's sexual transgression with evil but what |

| |does she come to see.
 Refer back to the grid you completed at the beginning of |

| |this unit in which you listed contemporary examples of the issues raised in The |

| |Crucible. Are you able to make a link between any of these issues and Miller's |

| |contention that people tend to think in "black and white"? |

|Learning task 7 |Learning task 7 |

| |Performance assessment |

|Learning intention(s) |Form small groups which will plan and deliver a performance of a small section of|

|Preparing and delivering an oral presentation |the play - either chosen by the group or allocated by the teacher to ensure |

| |coverage of the play. This section should offer sufficient opportunity for each |

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |student to provide enough evidence for assessment of individual performance. You |

|KCs: Use language, symbols and texts – |must check with your teacher before preparing and presenting a group performance.|

|structure and express understandings about | |

|texts |In your group, discuss and record what you intend to show in the performance of |

|Participating and Contributing – contribute to |your allocated extract. Consider: |

|a group performance |atmosphere/mood of the extract |

| |the nature of relationships between characters |

| |important ideas. |

| | |

| |As a group, read through the text. Pause to discuss and annotate photocopies of |

| |individual scripts to suggest possible ways you could use tone of voice, pace, |

| |pitch, volume, contrasts, emphasis, rhythm and actions to reflect the ideas you |

| |identified. |

| |Annotate photocopies of individual scripts to suggest possible ways you could use|

| |gesture, facial expression, stance, eye contact, movement, use of props, use of |

| |costume to reflect the ideas you identified. |

| |Rehearsal |

| |As a group rehearse your performance, adding in costumes and props (where |

| |practical) once everyone is confident with using voice, body, movement to |

| |interpret the script. |

| |Keep referring each other back to the ideas you recorded to ensure whatever you |

| |do adds to the atmosphere or conveys the meaning of your extract. |

| |You will be assessed on how well you: |

| |develop and support ideas about your topic |

| |use a range of appropriate presentation techniques |

| |how well you construct and deliver your presentation to your audience. |

| |Look at the ‘speaking standards clarification’ for information expectation |

| |regarding a Level 3 oral presentation. |

| | |

| |Performance |

| |Present your performance as a group - preferably to another class using your |

| |teacher to provide a narrative link between scenes. |

| | |

| | |

| |Developing an essay |

| |As formative work for AS 90723 Respond critically to oral or visua text studied, |

| |develop an essay on a topic linked to your work in the earlier learning tasks. In|

| |selecting a topic, it is vital that you select one suited to your understandings |

| |about it. As a first step in making a selection, consider the topics set in |

| |previous exam papers. Talk with your teacher about the most appropriate topic for|

| |the learning completed. In selecting a topic, give preference to a topic in a |

| |paper from the last few years. |

| |Look at the 2008 AS90723 exemplars. Additional exemplars are also available for |

| |this achievement standard by ordering the NZATE exemplar resource. |

| |Look over the Assessment Reports for AS 90723. As identified in the report, an |

| |excellence level response: |

| |sustained a cogent argument/discussion of the question |

| |displayed maturity and insight of critical response |

| |displayed judicious and/or insightful personal response and judgement |

| |integrated liberal, detailed relevant evidence and reference to texts to support |

| |ideas, throughout the essay |

| |explained and explored with insight and perception, the relevance of teacher |

| |notes, critics’ comments, reviews etc to the topic and to the candidate’s own |

| |position as viewer or performer |

| |structured a lucid, focused essay, using sophisticated expression and language |

| |wrote accurately and expressed ideas confidently in academic writing |

| | |

| |Having selected a topic, develop an essay. Write at least 400 words. Support your|

| |ideas with specific details from your work in earlier learning tasks. |

| |After completing a first draft, read your piece aloud to help identify parts of |

| |the writing that require reworking. Before writing a final version of your piece,|

| |proof-read it to improve on technical accuracy. Prior to writing the final draft,|

| |you should return to the exemplars to help reflect on whether any changes or |

| |additions are needed in your own final draft. You should also refer to the |

| |Assessment Schedule for AS 90723. |

| | |

| |Preparing for AS90723 at the end of the year |

| |Look back at the essay you developed earlier and use it to help prepare for the |

| |external standard. Don’t rote learn this essay then attempt to somehow adapt a |

| |learnt essay to a topic in the exam. You will be much better prepared if you |

| |familiarise yourself again with the text as well as its ideas and supporting |

| |evidence, then adapt your understandings and supporting evidence to fit the |

| |requirements of the topics set. |

|Learning task 8 |Learning task 8 – Additional Resources |

| |Webquests: |

|Learning intention(s) |Arthur Miller's The Crucible
 A webquest which guides students through an |

|Extending learning |exploration of the historical background of the play. |

| |Print |

|KCs/ Principles/Values focus |Miller A. The Crucible |

|KCs: Thinking |Locke T. (1998) Close Up on Literary Text. Longman |

|– explore texts |Electronic |

| |The Crucible - Teacher's Guide
Contains a series of other activities and links |

| |based on the play. |

| |Cliffnotes quiz on The Cruicble |

| |The Crucible |

| |ClassicNotes on The Crucible |

| |Web English Teacher Links |

| |Arthur Miller and The Crucible
This first of two lessons in this unit examines |

| |the consequences of personal conscience in conflict with rigid societal |

| |perceptions of what is "right" in human behaviour. |

|Assessment and Evaluation |

|(What is the impact of my teaching and learning?) |

|Formative and/or Summative assessment |AS 90725 Construct and deliver an oral presentation |

|task(s), including how will feedback be |AS 90723 Respond critically to oral or visual text studied, |

|provided | |

|Provision for identifying next learning |This piece of writing should be an integrated part of the year’s writing programme. |

|steps for students who need: |Refer to |

|further learning opportunities |English Teaching and Learning Guide [available from February 2011] |

|increased challenge |for more details. |

|Tools or ideas which, for example might be |See: Using inquiry to plan secondary English programmes |

|used to evaluate: | |

| | |

|progress of the class and groups within it | |

|student engagement | |

|leading to : | |

|changes to the sequence | |

|addressing teacher learning needs | |

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